Jake Keaton Racing was excited this weekend after an excellent test session on May 19th. Jake and the crew had found a few problems with the car during the week that was slowing Jake down. Saturday came and raceday activities began. The first practice session went well with Jake in the top 10 times for the first time all year. The car was a little snug in the center so some adjustments were made. For the 2nd session Jake was much faster but did not like how the car drove going into the corner. The adjustments were taken back out for qualifying. During Friday's test Jake turned a 16.050 in a qualifying run during the same weather conditions. We hoped to repeat that and have a solid spot in the top 5. Jake said the car was moderately tight and wound up turning a 16.116 good enough for 12th but still only a tenth a second from the top 5. Every race we have run here the car has gotten tight as the race progressed so we made a rather large chassis adjustment to free the car up for the long run.
This 12th place starting position placed Jake on the outside which is not the place to be here at Motor Mile. On the start Jake dropped a few spots until he could get to the lower groove. For 20 laps he held his postion and stayed in line slowly passing a few cars. Around lap 25 he said the car was getting too loose off the corner. He still hung around 13th or so until lap 40 when he was hung on the outside and lost a few spots. At lap 60 he said he was just hanging onto the car coming out of the turns. His lap times got slower and slower as he could not get on the throttle. Roger and Rodney were in the pits and noticed Jakes brakes were glowing red all the way around the race track signifying a major brake problem. At lap 80 Jake was just trying not to wreck as the car had gotten that terrible coming out of the turn. When the checkered flew Jake was 16th still on the lead lap but still dissapointed that we made the wrong adjustment for the race. We have two weeks before our next race at Motor Mile. During this time Jake will be having his engine tuned up and also will be repairing his brake problem. See you in two weeks...
Finish: 16th
